Shadows in the Wind: An Adventure
by PlumWineOwl
Summary: Shadows in the Wind, known as Shadow to her friends, is a tabxi who has found herself driven from her clan in her home continent of Maztica. After five years of making it on her own in the Common Lands, she has found herself with two unlikely traveling companions and a daunting, devil-filled journey ahead of them.


p class="MsoNormal"A Note From the Author: I've been wanting to practice and improve my writing recently, so I thought it might be fun to transcribe mine and my friends' Dungeons and Dragons adventure into a story format. I welcome all constructive comments and criticisms and am open to ideas on how I can make the story better. Thank you for reading my story and I hope you enjoy!/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"Shadow rode atop one of her rag-tag group's horses on their way to the city of Portsmouth. The stallion had been bought with the little bit of coin the group could muster together and was far from anything special, with its dull brown coat and even duller eyes. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuch could be said the same about the dwarf situated in front of Shadow on the saddle. Thrain was a stocky druid with a twig-ridden knot of a beard that smelled of a rotting forest floor after a particularly wet summer. Shadow had been trying to keep her muzzle from wrinkling in protest during the journey thus far and she wondered why it was her who had to share a horse with the repulsive little man./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHer yellow eyes squinted as a ray of sunlight reflected off the polished heavy armor of the cleric who rode ahead of them on their rag-tag group's second unimpressive horse./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em"Perhaps it would have been too unfair to force more of a burden on that poor creature," /emShadow thought to herself, convinced that such large armor must weigh as much as she did soaking wet./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"She conjured up an image in her mind of the cleric, a human named Shin, trying to clatter quickly off his horse and stifled a snicker./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em"Heavy metal armor? Why don't these humans just wrap themselves in bands of iron, throw themselves into battle with a beast, and be done with it?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Shadows in the Wind hailed from a faraway continent called Maztica. The tropical island was home to a race called tabaxi, cat-like creatures who worshipped a fickle deity and often fought amongst themselves while keeping outsiders at bay simply with the tales of horrible creatures and monsters that inhabited the island's waters and jungle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"As it truly was, Shadow was likely the biggest oddity in the group to any passing onlookers. The tabaxi, clothed in nothing but a set of green tinted leather armor and a rough black hood, was an exotic sight to see with her feline face and ears, twitching tail, and auburn and brown striped fur. How she had come to travel with this pair of magic-wielding adventurers was a story to be told, but in short, they had bared witness to the release of a horde of devils onto the world and it was now up to Shadow, Thrane, and Shin to bring word of this travesty to the priests of Pelor at the church in Portsmouth./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Shadow caught herself mulling over what a church of light worshiping do-gooders like Shin will be like when their horses trotted to a stop. Three rough-looking dwarves had emerged from the woods to block their a style="mso-comment-reference: AW_1; mso-comment-date: 20190610T0211; mso-comment-done: yes;"path/a./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Excuse me, but we need to get our horses through. Please, move aside," Shine called out passively to the trio of dwarves, but they remained planted in the path./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"It wasn't until Shadow and Thrain rode up on their mount that the dwarves' stubbornness faltered, for when one of the dwarves, a worn looking fellow with a brained red beard, set his eyes on Thrain his skin suddenly paled a sickly shade of white./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""N-no!" he stammered, his hand reaching for the battle axe secured to his belt. "It can't be you! This is madness!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"The other dwarves, startled by their companions' reaction, also drew their weapons./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""What is it Bran?" one questioned. His eyes darted from Shadow, to Shin, and then to Thrane and whatever terrifying notion had dawned on Bran struck him as well. "By high hills! It can't be!" he shouted and with that, the trio of dwarves rushed Shin, Shadow, and Thrain's horses with fear prevalent in their eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Shin's horse pulled back away from the dwarf Bran, narrowly avoiding having its legs taken out by its attacker's war hammer. Shin pulled back on the horse's reins and summoned his own war hammer, a glowing phantasm of a weapon that fought back Bran as if on its own accord./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"While Shin dealt with Bran, the remaining two dwarves set their sights on Shadow and Thrain. Shadow grabbed Thrain by the back of his shirt and helped, or more accurately tossed, her companion down from their mount, all while using her offhand to keep the horse steady./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Thrain met one of the attacking dwarf's battle axe with his own. The two tested their strength and skill against one another, leaving Thrain's back open to the third dwarf. Luckily, Shadow had never been one to shy away from a sly attack. She pulled her rapier from its sheath and stuck the weapons sharp tip mercilessly through the back of the neck of the third dwarf. Shadow pulled her rapier back with a violent tug and felt the dwarf's flesh and blood suck back pitifully before the dwarf fell at her mount's feet with a satisfying thud./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"With his attention now free to focus on the dwarf in front of him, Thrain weathered his opponent down in a matter of strikes and slashes. With one final blow, Thrain planted his axe deep in the chest of the second dwarf./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"After seeing his companions fall quickly to Shadow and Thrain, the dwarf Bran turned tail and ran off into the trees. It seemed Shin hadn't been as intent on killing his opponent and had kept his strategy defensive./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Shadow, who's previous experience always told her to shoot first and ask questions later, switched to her hand crossbow and let a bolt fly into the back of Bran's left knee while Thrain, who was as unwilling as Shadow to let any of the attackers go free, sprinted into the woods after him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Shadow dismounted from her horse and followed Thrain's trail, leaving Shin to tend to the horses. She decided that would be for the best, given the cleric's clunky armor and merciful tendencies. By the time Shadow had made it to Thrain the druid had already severed Bran's head, leaving a gruesome display of blood to stain the grass and trees./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Do dwarves normally act this erratic?" Shadow asked Thrain, failing to see the irony in her statement. "Or do they really not like pale skin?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Although the dwarves' reaction was a bit much, Thrain was a sight to be seen. The dwarf looked sickly and pale thanks to a curse that had been placed upon via Shadow's deck of magic, yet unpredictable, cards. Shadow herself had drawn a special card that supposedly would allow her to turn back the time on any one even. Much to Thrain's annoyance, she felt it would be a waste of the card to apply it to his condition./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Who knows," Thrain responded, ever the nonchalant druid he was. "But whatever it was I'm sure it was nothing important." He left it at that, and Shadow felt no reason to question him. It was likely unrelated to their goal anyway./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"They made the walk back through the trees to where Shin waited on the path and relayed to him what had happened to the runaway Dwarf. As a cleric of Pelor, the god of light and goodwill, he was unhappy with his companions' rash decision to end the dwarf but knew nothing could be done now and that they had more pressing matters to attend to than the deaths of erratic dwarves. They still had to warn the church in Portsmouth of the devil horde./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"*******/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"It took them the rest of the day, but by late afternoon the group had reached the gates of Portsmouth. The trading city sat nestled closely to the sea and was surrounded by stone walls that had been smoothed and bleached by the seaside sun and wind. Merchants, traders, and travelers alike strolled freely through the central city gate and Shadow and her companions had no issue making their way to a stable where they could board their horses for the duration of their stay./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"With the horses safely tucked away in their stalls, Shadow and Thrain followed Shin through the busy city streets. The streets were crowded with a variety of races. There were elves, halflings, and even a few tabaxi from Shadow's native land of Maztica. Shadow felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach as the thought of home reared its ugly head from the depths of her thoughts. Flattening her ears, she brushed off the memories and turned her head away from the other tabaxi. Returning home, or even risking interacting with another tabaxi, wasn't something she could allow herself./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Distracted by her need to direct her attention away from the tabaxi, Shadow didn't notice the cloaked girl approaching the opposite direction through her path until they bumped shoulders. Shadow offered barely a grunt in apology as she felt a crisp piece of parchment slide into her hand. Her ears perked up in interest and she discreetly unrolled the parchment as not to alert her companions./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"span style="font-family: 'Bradley Hand ITC';""Follow me to the alley. Do so alone"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow recognized the handwriting immediately as that of Gesh Heskan and resisted the urge to snicker. She wondered if her mentor would ever decide to contact her via more normal methods or if he would continue with his insentiently clandestine ways. Of course, if Gesh were one to send a letter with a courier Shadow was certain she would have never taken a liking to the dragonborn. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"The further their group moved into the city the thicker the crowd became until Shadow, Shin, and Thrain were forced into a single file line with Shin parting the sea of city dwellers at the front. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"emspan style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Perfect," /span/emspan style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow thought and just as her two companions rounded the next street corner she was gone./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"*******/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Moments later Shadow slipped into the alleyway she had passed when the mysterious cloaked girl had palmed her Gesh's note. Gesh Heskan stood like a large, ominous shadow in the darkness cast by the city buildings. The black-scaled dragonborn, though as tall and muscular as most of his kind, blended well into his surroundings. If Shadow hadn't been alerted that he was here, she might likely have never spotted him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You've been up to a lot of trouble, little cub," Gesh spoke to Shadow. He was trying to keep the emotion from his voice, but Shadow knew him well enough by now to sense the faint smirk hidden there. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow met Gesh's comment with a toothy, fanged grin. "You would know, wouldn't you, Gesh," she countered. "Someone likes to keep track of his pets."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow had known Gesh for the five years she had been away from home. Gesh was the one who helped her stow away on a boat out of Maztica and then assisted further by helping her find work on this strange new land. Shadow was sure she wouldn't even be able to speak half a sentence in common if Gesh hadn't been patient enough to tutor her in the language. Without him, Shadow would have been slaughtered by the elders of her own clan. She had no idea why he ever decided to do so much for her, but Shadow had never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Gesh grunted. The 'pet' comment must have offended him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"emspan style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Good," /span/emspan style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow thought. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I have a job for you," Gesh said, getting right to the point. "There's a cleric who is the head of the church you and your companions are traveling to; Gregory I believe is his name. I want you to protect his life at all cost. Do this and I'll consider petitioning for your membership into the Organization."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow's ears pricked upright and she leveled a yellow-eyed stare at Gesh. The Organization was the mysterious shadow group Gesh was a part of. Shadow had never been exactly sure what all the group had their hands into, but she knew from Gesh that its members were very skilled and being one herself would mean many high paying jobs for someone with her special skill set. Assassination and spy work wasn't too easy to come by when you were a freelancer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""That's certainly doable," Shadow practically purred. She brought a claw to her chin and pretended to weigh out her options, letting her eyes roll up in mock thoughtfulness. Of course, she was going to take the job. The possibility of being inducted into the Organization just for keeping someone she was already in route to alive was too good to turn down. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"The subtle look of disdain on Gesh's brow proved that he saw through Shadow's fake consideration, but that only encouraged Shadow's charade further. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Why is it that you wish for this cleric to remain out of harm's way?" she asked Gesh. The purr at the end of her words had grown even more pronounced. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""That is not something you need to worry yourself over," Gesh sighed in mild frustration but remained firm in his posture. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shadow rolled her eyes hard before bringing them back around to peer up at Gesh. In the shadows of the alleyway, the tabaxi's eyes looked like two mischievous yellow moons perched in the sky. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I see you're set on being as secretive as ever, Gesh," she grinned. "But I'll do you this small favor and accept your job, just this once."/span/p  
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